Brake for transfer-wagons.



N0. 84( L423r PATENTED JAN. 1, 1907.

N. 0. BASSETT. BRAKE FOR TRANSFER WAGONS.

APPLICATION FILED 1330.27, 1905.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 1- Witnesses; I Inventor 7 norm-an CBasgettl I byPATENTED JAN. 1, 190?.

N. c. BAS$BTT. BRAKE FOR TRANSFER WAGONS."

APPLICATION FILED DEC.27,1905.

FATENTED JAN. 1, 1907.

zmsmzs.

N. U. BASSBTT I BRAKE FOR TRANSFER WAG-0N8 APPLICATION FILED 1330.27,1905.

. 5., m P MW 6 m 0 W a Z 5 A U M m G Dd E V. d E n m w PATENTED JAN. 1,1907.

N. 0. BASSETT. BRAKE FOR TRANSFER WAGONS.

APPLICATION FILED DEG.27,1905.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

VIM p Wiifnesses:

lnven or Nerman C. Basse'fii. ditty.

PATENTED JAN. 1,1907. N. 0. BASSETT.

BRAKE FOR TRANSFER WAGONS.

APPLICATION IILBD DEC. 27,

5 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

, mm a \A/TNESSES.

INVENTEIR- I NDRMAN llAss Ett M UNITED STATES NQRMAN c. AssET'r, or,MlLWAUKEE, W sconsin, Assionoa TQ Gian-j ER A L ELECTRIC COMPANY, ACORPORATION or NEW 'YQRK,"

BRAKE For: riaAn's aa-wAeous.

To ctll whom) it may concern/.- v p lieit known that LNORMAN C. BAssETT,a citlzen of theUnitedStates,"residing at Milwaukee, inthecounty ofMilwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new anduseful'lmprovements in Transfer-Wagons, of

. which the following is a specification.

' Modern. systems of transportation involve some-complicated problems'inthe matter' of redistributing freight at central points, so that allgoods coming in on difierent" lines and bound for the same'destinationshallbe quickly and surely-loaded in the same car and labor. .W'hereeach road has its own terminal station and all freightcoming into eachand billed through on other, roads must be carted away and delivered attheseveral freight-houses of the other roads, a vast house.

amount of time is consumed and a costly handlinga'nd rehand'ling of'theigoods is neces'sary; ,Itis for this reason'that in one or i more largerailroad centers immense freight terminals have been constructed, towhich are run all trains ofjall roads and'where the throughffreight issorted and reloaded in the proper cars. The goods are moved byihailnd t.as

wagons'forithe' hand trucks, thus enabling one manto move more goods atonetime and more rapidly than is now possible and with a decided savingin the time and labor involved. In, carrying out such a systemfthewagons must be-movable' in any direction lengthwise or transverselyof the freight As the floori's some thirty or forty 'j 'feet widebetween the 'receivingplatforms and is one or two thousand feetdong, it'is evident that-when the *wagonsare electrically driven, the ordinaryoverhead-trolleyconductors cannot be used, To-"perrnita free movement ofthe wag0ns,1t IS thBIGl OI'G proposed in such casesto use a metalceiling andla metal 'floorfforming the terminals of the Owe'rfcircuit, 1the overhead trolleywhee s on the'wa'gon's having flat peripheries,

'.' so that they can moveeasily in any direction a,. short space, ofmoving sidewise 'out from I alon ,the ceiling. It is desirable that the'wagon be capable oftnrning quickly; and in three wheels.

:the. brake for each pair of wheels rmayb erated' independently i brakes-1nay PATENT OFFICE.

" e sm- W '5 Original application nea May 2, 1902, sesame 105,590;Divided andthisapplicationfiled'Deceniber27, 1905.- Serial N 2 3,472.

a platform to avoid disturbing in front of or behind it, and to'runobliquely, across the floor with its body vparallel with,

the platforms when the transfer- :is to ,points; nearlyoppos'itethepoint of departure,

My invention relates to a wagon of -;the class describedl capable thesemovements' .x-j'; i'.

To this end it consists of-.-a,bod y;or platform mounted on ourswiveledtruck wheels,

each wheel driven by its ownvmotqr Qflhe' of accomplishing a wagon isalso provided with steering devices and brakes. Whenrelectric motors areused, they are referably connectedin seriesand wagon Current is takenfrom the metal ceil? 5 -all contro led by a controller at one end of theing by a multiple trolley: having;,-:preferably ,nected with onesteering-wheel and the rear truck-wheels with another steerin' :Whl,both wheels being close together, so t at they The front truck-wheelsare con} can be easily operated either separately or torgether. Thesteering and controllingdevic'es V and the trolleyepole are mounted atthe front end of the wagon, leaving the greater art of f body-platformclear for receiving goo s.

all four truck-wheels stand lengthwise. of the n .body,

wheels are all turned transversely, thegwagon will move laterally,either at right' angles with its longitudinal axis or obliquelythereito,. a-

the wagonw-illrun' lengthwise. It the cordingto the angle through whichthe wheels own length, it necessary. If vt-he r'ront wheels are turned.If the front wheelsareftnrned only are turned leaving the; others ,in'line the bodygthe wagon will steilillilf e n nary wagon or automobile.The same' can be produced; if the rear wheelsv onlyare turned when thewagon is running backward.

- The brake mechanismv is so arrange-d e o 0f thebraksfor j As ,a resultthe brakes other pair of wheels 'niaybe applied p out applying them tothe other pair; or the both pairs of wheels to produooequaliorjdifferent degrees of retardation tliercfor'; a, This arrangementfacilitates thesteerin'g of the "vew e rair ofwh lswil be simultaneouslyapplied I to 3 4'5 4 receive current from the ceil ng through trolhiele.For instance, where both 'pairs of wheels areturned transversely to thelength of the truck'the relative speeds of the two pairs of wheels,andthereby the anovernent,

' of the vehicle may be varied by the action of the brake mechanism;

In the present application claims are made 011 the arrangement andconstruction. of the braking mechanism shown and described.Novel-features of construction and arrangement, shown and described, butnot claimed inthe'presentapplication, are claimed in my resentapplication, Serial No. 105,590, filed :y'2,"1902,'of which thisapplication is a di .VISIQILI Inthe accompanying drawings, Figure 1. isa; transverse section of a freight terminal vequip ped wit-h mimprovedtransfer-wagons Tequippedwi-th eiectric motors. Fig. 2 is afront elevation of the wagon, on a larger scale.- Fig. 3 is a sideelevation thereof, partly in sectio'n.- a top plan view with'the plat--formor body flo'or'removed. Fig. 5 is a sec tion'al elevations'ofoneofthe trucks on the 'line 5 5, Figy6. Fig. 6 isa's'ectional elevation 'oft'he truckon the line 6 '6, Fig. 5. Fig; 7 is a topplanviewjof-the'truck. Fig. 8"is aview of the multiple trolley. IFigz-Qisa'sectional elevation ofthesteering-gear and its indicator. Fig. 10'isa-top'plan view of the same with the'topof-the casing removedl Fig.1 1is artop;plan.view of the casing.

The freight 'h'ouse is along narrow structure having'asteam'-railroad-tra'ck l along each side ju'st' 'outsidethe .walls'.Along the inside of the building on eachside runs a platform 2 onale'vel wit'hlthe car-floors. When electricallya driven wagons are"us'ed,". the space between the platforms has amron floor 3, audit co Iper;

or other "metal :ceiling '4; The termina s of the power-circuit areconnected, res pectively, with! said fieor and ceiling. The electrictransfer-"wagons have body'- floors 'or plat forms on atlevel withthestation-platforms 2,

and'a'reiequipped withelectric motors, which leys':

The-.wagon illustrated has a carrying capacity of. ten tons. Other 'waone are pro-' vided ofyibne tonyfive tons,'an twenty tons-'capacityijbiitnot differing essentially in con-' struction from theoneshown; The body=floor or platform'5 of the Wa on is flat'and iscarried ona fr'anie 6"ofsuita le construction, stiffened'by truss-rods!-and posts 8. The body is preferably more than twice as long as it iswide, and near each corner is a single-wheeled swiveling-truck- Thetruck wheel 9- is se-' cured onan axle l0,"providedon eachside of thewheel with ournals 11,' "which are re ceived in axle-boxes 12 on thetruck-frame '13 and'have the .usual brasses 14 and thrust plates 14; Theframe 13 has acircular top concentric with the vertical diameter'of the:

wheels 28, staggered to insure -wheel 9.and provided with a cylindricalupright flange 15, fitting around a circular flange :16, depend'rng froma-ring-bearing 17,

secured to'transverse bolsterblocks 18 on the under side of thewagon-frame 6. In the adjacent faces of the two flan es are re isteringgrooves, in which are a pTurality 0 steel ba ls 19, which serve to unitethe truck-frame and ring-bearing and enable the former to swivel easilyon the latter. I Secured to the truck-wheel is' a ear 20, with whichmeshes a pinion 21 on t e shaft of the motor 22, which is supportedby-an arm or lug 23 on the truck-frame. To pre-" vent dirt or any otherforeign substancefrorn falling into the teeth of the gear 20,'aguardfiange 24 is secured into the truck-frame, cov--:

- are bunched in cables 26, which are led along the'unde'rside' of thewa on-body and are carried to each motor in'a oo 27 with sufficientslack to permit the true s to be freely turned through one'hundred andeighty degrees. The controller is provided with the usualreversing-switch, so that'the 1 trucks cantbe run in either direction.Current is taken from the metal ceiling by means of a trolley composed;preferably, of three fiat ood contact, journaled in short forked'trofiey poles 29, hinged atthe upper'end ofa standard 30,

erected'on the wagon :near the controller;

Sp'ringsBl kee the trolley yieldingly pressed againstthe cei ing. V p

The'steering devices are as follows i'Around the outside of theflange'on'v thertruck' frame 'are grooves 32. Achain-33' hasits ends securedin-one of these grooves in the two forward trucks, and a cha1ns34similarly connects the two rear-truck's.

the forward trucks and "passes around a sprocket 36 on a vertical shaft37 at the front of the'wagon near the controller: A chain 38 is"similarly secured to the rear trucks and 'passes around a sprocket '39one second ver-' tical shaft 40, slightly in'the rear of the shaft 37LOn"the"upp er ends of the shafts are worm gears 41 42.. Aworm 43ona'hori= zonta l: 'sh'aft"44 meshes yvith the rear wormgearJ41. A'secondWorm 45 on a sleeve 46,

concentric. with" the shaft 44, meshes The front end of "the theworm-gear 42.

Achain .35 has its ends'secured in the othergroove'in sleeve carries-ahand wheel 47," and theshaft I 44 projects beyond it'andcarries aband-'wheel 48; It will'be seen'that' from the way. the chains are attachedto; the trucks. one -'-of thesewormsmust be right-handed and the otherleft-handed in order that the handwheels may both rotate in the samedirection to effect a similar given angularmo'vement of both pairsoftrucks. Means are provided for locking the shaft 44 and the sleeve 46together,

48, adapted to enter a socket-50 in the handwheel 47 3 By turning thehandwheel 47 the two front trucks are turned, and similarly the two reartrucks are turned'by the handwheel 48. When the "wheels' arelocked-together, all four trucks will be turned' 'siinultaneously and atthe same ange. The trucks are so arranged that they can be turned to anyangle up to ninety degrees either way from a straight forward position.As the circular flanges 15 are concentric with the vertical diameters ofthe truck-wheels, the latter will simplyswivel, on this diameter whenthe steering-wheels 47 48 are operated.

In order that the mot-orman may know the exact angular positionof eachpair of'truckwheels," an -indicator is connected with each wormsgear.This maybe simply a needle carried on'an. extension of thesprocket-shaft; but I prefer to arrange two needles on one axis,onebeing marked on a circular disk 51 and the other on an annulus 52,concentric with the disk; The hub 53, carrying said annulus, is sleevedon the hub 54- of the disk, and each hub is suitably connected,preferably by toothed wheels 55, with its respective sprocket-shaft in'such manner that both needles swing in the same direction when he twopairs of trucks are turned in'the same direction. It is preferred tohave both needles point straight ahead when the wheels stand in thestraight forward position andto indicatethe same angular positionsassumedby the trucks when the hand-wheels are operated. .This is readilyaccomplished by prop-' erly proportioning the gears 55, which con.

nect the hubs 53 54 with the sprocket-shafts.

The brakes are each composed of a shoe 56, resting on top of thetruck-wheel and verticallyinovable in guides 57, forming part of thetruck-frame. Attached to the middle of the shoe by a'ballandsocket jointand in line with the vertical diameter of the truck-wheel is a hanger58, hinged at its upper end to a brake-lever 59, which is fulcrumed at60 on the stationary ringbearing of the truck. The annular form of saidbearing gives space for the brake-shoe and its guides to turn with thewheel and to enable the hanger to pass up to the brake-lever. The longarm of the brake-lever is connected by a link 61 with a rock-arm 62 on arock-shaft 63 journaled in bearings 64, secured to the underside of thewagon-frame 6. Another rock-arm 65 is connected by a brake-rod66with one'arm of a bell-crank lever 67 under the wagon-floor near the controller.From the other arm of said bell-crank lever a presser-rod 68 rises tosuch as .a sprmgdog 49 on the Wheel on the wagon. With a pedal 69, whichis hinged at each endto the two rods 68.

controller facing the opposite side of :the

The motorman' stands at one side of the wagon, so that byturning' hishead to one side or the otherhe can look forward or back' ward along,the line of movement of the wagon. He is preferably elevated on latform70. .A fence 71 protects him an the controller and steeringgear frombeing interfered with by goods when theyare loaded his right hand hemani )ulates the steerin wheels and with his le b hand the control?rests on the brake-pedal. By ressing down on one end of the pedal thebra es on the forward wheels will be operated, while those on the rearwheels can be set by pressing down on the other end of the pedal. Aneven pressure on both rods sets all the brakes. The motorman thus hascomplete control of the machine and can run it in any direction atwill-either'forwai d, backward, transversely, obli uely, or in a curvedpath.

W at I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States, is-

1. A transfenwagon, comprisin a body, a plurality of independently-swiveed singlewheel trucks, and brake-shoes bearing on the tops of saidwheels, each shoe being swiveled 'to a brake-lever.

2. In a single-wheeled swiveled truck, whose axis of rotation is avertical diameter of the wheel, the combination with said wheel, of abrake-shoe bearing on. top thereof, a brake-lever fnlcrumed on thestationary bearing of said truck, and a hanger hinged to the lever andswiveled to the brake-shoe.

In a single-wheeled swiveled truck, whose axis of rotationis a verticaldiameter of the wheel, the combination, with a truckframe havin guides,of a brake-shoe vertically movabl e in said guides and bearing on top ofthe wheel, and a brake-lever having a swiveled connection with saidshoe.

4. In a transfer-wagon, comprising a plurality ofindependei1t1y-swiveled single-wheel trucks, the combination, with eachtruckwheel, of a brake-shoe therefor, a brake-lever swiveled to saidshoe, a rock-shaft for actuating said lever, and a brake-rodandfoot-pedal for operating said shaft.

5. In a transfer-wagon, comprising two pairs of independently-swiveledsingle-wheel trucks, the combination, with each truckwheel, of:ibrakeshoe therefor, a brake-lever swiveled to said'shoe, a rock-shaftfor actuating the levers for each pair of wheels, a brakerod for eachrock-shaft, and a foot-pedal adapted to operate either one or bothofsaid rods at will.

6. In a transfer-wagon, comprising two pairs of independently-swiveledsingle-wheel trucks, the combination, with each trucker, while his leftfoot IIO Wheel, of a, brake-shoe therefor, a brake-lever In witnesswhereof I have hereunto set my fulcrumed on the wagon and swiveled tosaid hand this 18th day of December, 1905. shoe, :1 rock-shaft foractuating the levers for each pair of Wheels, a brake-rod for eachNORMAN C. BASSETT. rock-shaft, a bell-crank lever pivoted to eachbrake-rod, an upright presser-rod pivoted to Witnesses:

each bell-crank lever, and a, pedal hinged at FRED S. SUTER,

each end t one of said resser-rods; 1 H. 0. CASE.

